The good news was that the city is in the black, revenues and surpluses are up, and expenses are mostly down.
Then came the bad news.
Auditor Warren Almand said the city is out of compliance with state law, which forbids items over budget; Almand said it wasn't much, but it was there.
Also out of compliance were charges on the city credit card; there was no paper trail on purchases.
Almand called it an "absence of documentation" and he had this advice:" If the city has policies to this effect they either need to abide by them or change the policy."
Mayor Bryan Puckette said the city does not have the credit card anymore.
LET'S NEGOTIATE
City Council decided to negotiate with one of its biggest water customers rather than back out of a verbal water supply agreement made by former City Manager Chris Rainwater without Council approval.
City Attorney Ron Bennett suggested negotiation after telling Council that Rainwater struck a deal with the City of Gainesville to supply fire suppression water pressure to Wilwat Properties until Flowery Branch was able to provide it.
"Let's talk about what we can do to resolve it, might be the best way to approach this, realizing that we may have a booster pump in a few months anyway," Bennett said.
Council approved a motion from Councilman Jim Herold instructing Bennett and Mayor Protem Larry Pritchett to negotiate with Wilwat.
Herold said the alternative might be a lawsuit from Wilwat and the loss of a big water account to Gainesville.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/12/120398